South Carolina LIFE Scholarship

The South Carolina LIFE Scholarship is currently $5000 per year for a maximum of four years. LIFE Scholars in their second year and after may also be eligible for a $2500 Enhancement.

General Eligibility

A student must be a legal resident of the State of South Carolina who graduated from high school in S.C.; or successfully completed a home school program as prescribed by law; or graduated from a preparatory high school outside S.C., while a dependent of a parent or guardian who is a legal resident of this State and has custody of the dependent, and must meet residency requirements for tuition & fees purposes.

A student must be a United States Citizen or Legal Permanent resident of the U.S.

A student must be full time at the College of Charleston, which is 12 credit hours or more, and working towards a first undergraduate degree.

A student must not owe a refund or be in default on a Federal Title IV or State of South Carolina educational loan.

A student must not have any felony convictions.

A student must not have been convicted of a second or subsequent alcohol or other drug-related misdemeanor convictions within the past academic year.

Freshmen Eligibility

To receive a LIFE Scholarship, an entering freshman must meet two of the three eligibility requirements:

Score 1100 on the SAT or 24 on the ACT

Graduate High School with a 3.0 GPA on the S.C. Uniform Grading Scale

Rank in the top 30% of graduating class

Continuing and Transfer Student Eligibility

Minimum LIFE GPA of 3.0 on 4.0 scale; and

The completion of a cumulative average of 30 credit hours per year.

This means 60 credits after the second year and 90 credits after the third year.
Note: The number of years is based on the first college enrollment after high school graduation and does not stop for nonattendance.

Transfer students must have high school transcripts sent to the Office of Admissions to qualify for State Scholarship consideration.

Students who are not eligible going into fall term cannot regain eligibility until the subsequent fall term.
Students must read the Terms and Conditions and accept the award via MyCharleston.

All eligibility appeals are done through CHE. Information can be found on their appeal website.